Our photojournalism agency, Flash 90, published this image today, with the following cryptic explanation: An Ultra orthodox Jewish youth plays the violin at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, on July 30, 2013. When I see this image, I think Jascha Heifetz. Not because he was born into an ultra-Orthodox Jewish family—he was not—but […]

Here’s a picture of a Jewish couple sit underneath the chuppah during their wedding in a synagogue in Paris, France, July 21, 2013. It’s an Elul kind of picture, even though it was shot in Av. But we know that the name of the month of Av is an acronym for “Ba Elul,” Elul is […]

In the 1940s, Jewish servicemen stationed at Ft. Snelling and from as far away as Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Colorado received a free membership to the JEC during WWII. The center carried on the tradition of free memberships to Jewish soldiers begun in WWI. They gave you a nice cup of tea and you […]

Here’s a picture of President Barack Obama signing a line worker’s shirt after touring the Amazon fulfillment center in Chattanooga, Tenn., July 30, 2013. It used to be president would visit steel plants, textile mills, car assembly lines. But we don’t have much of that any more. To visit those places the president would have […]

President Shimon Peres spoke at a Synagogue in Riga, Latvia, on Tuesday, while on an official state visit to Latvia and Lithuania to discuss the recent EU boycott on Israeli products and the Holocaust. I just thought that it was nice to see Peres this close to the 10 Commandments, half of which can bee […]

Just like in the women’s, the men’s final in Basketball in this year’s Maccabiah games was a rematch from the preliminaries – USA vs. Argentina. But this time, the American team learned the lesson from its loss to Argentina earlier in the tournament, and won 87:76. Argentina got the silver and Israel the bronze after […]

This is the Gilboa Prison, in northern Israel, home to 800 Palestinian “security prisoners.” The security prison was inaugurated in 2004, with the mission of making sure no Palestinian inmate would ever escape. Each cell in the prison is nicknamed “a safe,” weighs 66 tons and is constructed of fortified cement. No one can dig […]

As the Israeli police and Islamic Waqf have forbidden Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, it is obvious that this man is NOT praying. No sir. No reason to arrest him at all. He is simply standing in quiet contemplation. Jewish Press Staff

On the morning of the day he was elected to lead Israel’s Rabbinate, Rabbi David Lau attended the brit mila of his grandson at the City Tower hotel in Ramat gan. They probably teach you to make a bracha on a really big kiddush cup early on in chief rabbi boot camp. Kidding aside, if […]

This picture was taken on August 16, 2005, the day after the 9th of Av. It shows IDF soldiers helping residents of the community Nissanit pack their belongings. Tenderly, they collected the holy books of the synagogue that was later burned down to the ground. Sweetly they piled the 300 families, some of whom had […]

Crazy Water Aqua Fun Park was a water park in the Gaza Strip, that opened in May 2010. Mohammed Al-Araj, a former economics minister for the Hamas government in Gaza, was one of the owners of the park. The park featured 3 swimming pools, a canal 100 meters long, three water slides, ponds with pedal […]

Athletes from the Brazil delegation wave their national flags during the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem, July 18, 2013. The 19th “Jewish Olympics” will start on July 22 with thousands of competitors from all over the world expected to gather at Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium for a festive opening ceremony. Yori Yanover

This was supposed to be a picture of President Barack Obama delivering remarks on the Affordable Care Act’s Medical Loss Ratio Refunds, in the East Room of the White House, July 18, 2013. But it became, instead, a picture of a blind lady having a private exchange with her seeing eye dog. And not just […]

Today: hand kissing, why, when, where, who, and, most important: what the heck? Former minister of Social Affairs and former Minister of Communications Moshe Kachlon (on the right, kissing) was the Sephardi poster child of the former Likud government. He was a star, who introduced real competition among cell phone providers that brought down rates […]

A father holds his daughter up to look at the men’s section of the Western Wall on Tisha B’av, July 16, 2013. I know it’s kinda’ kitchy, but, on occasion, these images tell the story of what’s best and sweetest about our country. Send more good, caring dads. Yori Yanover

Last night, after shul, I asked a friend to drive to the Kotel with me, to say kinot, hang with the crowd, take in the sights of sad Jews. He said no way and went home, and I gave it up, too, and went home. But some day, if, God forbid, Moshiach is still taking […]

About 3,000 Israelis participated in a march Saturday night marking the second anniversary of the social protests of the summer of 2011. The marchers walked down Ibn G’virol Street to Caplan Street, to the spot where a protester named Moshe Silman set himself on fire a year ago. They set up a monument in his […]

The IDF’s Golani Brigade concluded their beret march last week. That’s your basic training hike to nowhere that tests every part of your body. Here’s an image of a guy in a “helmet yarmulke” at the end of the murderous hike. He looks happy. Happiness on such occasions can be contagious. We need more guys […]

Oh, man, it’s almost here, we’re almost past the summer, we’re almost around the curve, we’re almost out there on the sidewalks packed with Arba Minim stands, hunting for holy bargains… No idea why, but the sight of etrogim gives me a charge, a burst of anticipation… Shneur Naparstek, a Jewish farmer, is examining packages […]